Getting into the Christmas spirit..

The day after Thanksgiving we always put up our tree. This year as no different, but we had two helpers this year instead of one! Last year I think Ellie was already in bed sleeping as a baby!

They had fun playing in the box, pulling ornaments off and putting 3 ornaments to one branch. You may think, "Wow, Lindsay is totally anal and a perfectionist and she must have been going nuts." You'd be proud. I gave up long ago. You should see our tree. (Which btw, has had lighting problems/circuits blowing every time we plug it in so you will have to wait to see the finished result. lol)

We are heading out to the tree lighting/Santa's arrival on base. Enjoy your weekend!

Christmas Survey

Both my mom and Danielle sent this to me so I thought I'd post. Copy and paste on yours or leave a few comments!!

------------------------------------------------------------

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? For Christmas I like to wrap presents so the kids have something to rip open. I like it to color coordinate also and it's harder to match gift bags.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I like the smell and idea of getting a real tree, but practically speaking we have a decent artificial. I also like to keep it up from Thanksgiving to New Years!

3. When do you put up the tree? day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog? No! My husband does though!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? That's so hard. The very first thing that popped into my mind was a fisher price kitchen with all the play food. I think I played with it for a couple years. Either that or I always asked for a new doll of some sort.

7. Hardest person to buy for? my husband's siblings

8. Easiest person to buy for? my kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, it's a knock off version of the willow tree simple set. I'd eventually like to have that.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail of course!

11.. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? There is no such thing!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation! gotta love Chevy Chase. Love Actually is a very close 2nd.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In October but I actually enjoy shopping during the holiday season with the crowds and stores decorated!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas Present? not unless it was a duplicate

15. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? special xmas cookies or treats

16. Lights on the tree? Right now they are all white, non-blinking. Val asked for colored AFTER we decorated the tree, so next year maybe we'll just load it with colored lights like a big gumdrop!

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Do you travel or stay home at Christmas? changes every year. We are about done traveling for a loooong time though so if you want to see us, you can come to our new house next year!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? of course! However I read Val Twas the Night before Christmas year round.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel. We got it at an antique shop in my hometown.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Growing up we were allowed one gift on xmas eve, the rest xmas morning. I think here we are going to let them open new pj's and maybe slippers/socks every year on xmas eve and the rest on xmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Usually I'd just say the increased lines/crowds while shopping but this year it is being homesick for the USA!

23. What theme or color are you using? I don't really have a theme. Our tree has red cranberries in a grapevine garland and red ribbon swagged around it.. but my living room has red curtains so it's just that I like red ;) However we are fans of homemade noodle wreath ornaments and the silly hallmark ones as well.

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? This year I'm feeling like either italian (duh.. but like a lasagna or something) or mexican/enchilades. The last few times we were with my parents we went out for chinese before church. That would work too!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a watch (Ellie flushed mine down the toilet in Rome), a new pr of boots, or some caleca dishes to replace my slowly chipping set I got at the market.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving in Italy

This year we have so much to be thankful for. I was so happy to spend the day with friends who have become like family to us over here. Many of our husbands deploy together so we tend to stick together on holiday's! This year Derrick's det (team) came over for a huge amount of food and games! I'm not in any pics, D says he is afraid of my camera. ug. I would just like some memory that I actually was AT Thanksgiving this year, but oh well. :)

Val dressed herself with striped tights and sparkle shoes. So Ellie had to wear a dress and sparkle shoes too. This drives my husband crazy, who already had El dressed.

Kylan and Valerie dancingEllie rocking out on Guitar Hero

oh that dorky husband of mine and Al

Poor Izzy.. the kids were hanging on her all night. At one point I think Val even talked her into taking her to the bathroom. lol

Julie and Austin

Chris and Ivy

The Waller's

Hope yours was wonderful!

8 weeks

I am 8 weeks along as I posted yesterday and going strong for now! As you can see, my belly flopped back out but that's alright. I have only gained 1 lb so atleast I can say it isn't from ice cream. ha ha. Pardon the hair and outfit, I was about to head out for my morning walk with the girls.

8 week belly pic:

Dancing Queens

I haven't had much to report as of this week. We are battling colds,etc. and staying in a bit more than usual. Week 7 of this pregnancy hit me with a force and I have had a hard time not falling asleep during the day! I should be 8 weeks today or tmrw. I also am officially in maternity pants. Apparently by the 3rd child, your belly literally just flops back out there. nice. :) Today we are hanging low, getting some prep done for Thanksgiving. I wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's a video of the girls dancing during lunch time. Valerie stills wears her princess dress constantly, and I do mean any time we are in the house. This week they started listening to the "kids holiday" radio station on yahoo music (hence why you are hearing that in the background).

Brrr

Wow it is nice and chilly here lately. It is currently 41 degrees outside but I am personally loving it!! :)

Monday I had an ultrasound to check on the baby & confirm my due date since my body works a little differently than some. I was lying there for 45 minutes while the u/s technician stared at the screen (which was turned away from me) clicking not saying anything. It is a hard situation as they aren't allowed to give us results but you just lie there anxiously waiting for something. I knew something was wrong when he went to get the doctor. The doctor explained to me that I had a yolk sac, but it was empty. I sat up to see the screen and apparently that tilted my uterus or something because the baby popped right on the screen. It was a little bizarre, as I went from thinking I was miscarrying to seeing the baby and heartbeat! Baby 3 is still measuring about 6.5 weeks as originally planned, so that is good news. For now, we're good to go. I am already wanting to be out of the first trimester to feel a little less worry and hopefully have a bit more energy! I feel really good other than passing out around 7:30 on the couch every night. Poor D. He is wonderfully putting the girls to bed for me and helping with dinner clean up.

Valerie is really doing well in ballet and school. She has been acting like a teacher every evening at home and telling Ellie where to stand, how to tap her toes,etc. I haven't figured out why but Ellie does whatever she says most of the time. If she doesn't want to, she will knock Valerie over with a swift shove. Smacking, pushing, and screaming are the fun things we are working on with Eleanor right now. Last week she shoved Valerie into a DVD display for Indiana Jones at the store and DVD's went flying everywhere, Val sobbing, and Ellie laughing. Lord, help us with this one.

On a positive note, Eleanor is talking so much these days and is putting words together. Valerie wasn't really doing that until after she turned two so it is awesome to see her so vocal. El likes to play dress up with Valerie some days and they dance around to their cd's in the living room.

Valerie is learning to think a bit more abstractly these days and it's interesting to hear her thoughts. Usually when she takes a nap, we ask her, "What did you dream about?" and she usually gives one word answers. Yesterday she said, "I talked to Jesus. He told me thank you for giving me a special family today. He lives for us." I was blown away. I said, "What did Jesus look like?" She said, "He had black hair. He gave me a hug and held my hand. I love him." We discuss Jesus on extremely general terms and she goes to Sunday school where they do the typical little paper crafts to learn about the bible stories but she has never actually talked about them to us before. It was really neat. She also told her preschool teacher yesterday that she has to turn 4 so she can have boobs to feed her baby and have a baby in her tummy. wowzers. mmm k :)

Ciao for now. Enjoy your week :)

I'm Singin' in the Rain..

Oh boy. The rainy season has indeed hit Sicily!! It's rained most of the day over the last couple days although our backyard grass is finally growing back in and things are nice and green! Just recently snow has started to top Mt. Etna and it's actually starting to feel like fall around here.

Derrick has been in Washington D.C. this week for a job and returns home in a couple days. I've had strep throat for the last week or so but am feeling a little better this weekend. Being pregnant and sick is not the best timing! The girls miss Derrick, but he told them that he's been helping Santa fix his sleigh or something and Val can't wait to hear about it when he gets home. She totally gets it this year, it's been a lot of fun already. Speaking of Christmas, I just finished my shopping yesterday AND this morning ordered all of my xmas cards!!! For once, I am actually early with everything and will peacefully enjoy the holidays with my family. (Remember, things take a couple weeks to ship here, and then we have to ship out.. it can be a little hectic)

Before Derrick left we went to the pebbly beach fiumefreddo which is about 40 minutes north of here along the coast. The water was clear and blue, the pebbles don't stick to your feet, and we had a really nice time letting the kids run around. I was going to shoot for a tripod pic of the 4 of us but I didn't even want to try. We just let the kids have fun. Here a few pics that didn't make the Christmas card cut.. although I like some of these better but they just didn't fit!

The drama. Ellie had just wrestled her to the ground instead of hugging her, shoving pebbles into Val's mouth. Val just layed there crying like a helpess victim. oy oy oy. I told her I was going to take a picture for Grandma, and would she like to be happy or crying. She said, "I want to look like I'm crying." So here she is in all her glory.